Their love joined two great empires, and they died rather than being captured by their enemies. In this history Diana Preston lays aside the romanticized legends surrounding ancient history's most illustrious couple and reveals an empire-minded Marc Antony and an even more politically ambitious Cleopatra. Preston delves into Cleopatra's girlhood and marriage to Julius Caesar, while also contemplating how the Middle East would have been different had the Queen and her lover prevailed against Octavian and the Roman forces.

"Defying the traditional mythology that paints them as doomed star-crossed lovers, Preston places this amazing power couple firmly into the historical, political, and military contexts that shaped them and were, in turn, shaped by them."—Booklist